Provisions related to Italian copyright law (''diritto d'autore'') are found in Law no. 633 of 22 April 1941 (along with its various amendments). Certain fundamental provisions are also found in the Italian Civil Code of 1942, Arts. 2575–2583.

Copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

law in Italy has not changed much since the first enactment of these provisions. There have been amendments to Law no. 633 to incorporate specific works such as computer programs and

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases sp ...

s, or to add or alter user exceptions, but generally Italian lawmakers have been reluctant to institute any major or fundamental reforms. Italian copyright law is based strongly on

authors' rights "Author's rights" is a term frequently used in connection with Intellectual property, laws about intellectual property. The term is considered as a direct translation of the French language, French term ''droit d’auteur'' (also German language, ...

. Exceptions to authors'

exclusive right In Anglo-Saxon law, an exclusive right, or exclusivity, is a de facto, non-tangible prerogative existing in law (that is, the power or, in a wider sense, right) to perform an action or acquire a benefit and to permit or deny others the right to p ...

s are limited – there is no provision equivalent to

fair use Fair use is a doctrine in United States law that permits limited use of copyrighted material without having to first acquire permission from the copyright holder. Fair use is one of the limitations to copyright intended to balance the interests ...

fair dealing Fair dealing is a limitation and exception to the exclusive rights granted by copyright law to the author of a creative work. Fair dealing is found in many of the common law jurisdictions of the Commonwealth of Nations. Fair dealing is an en ...

— and are generally interpreted restrictively by the courts.

Subject matter

The subject matter owed protection is provided for (identically) in both the Civil Code (art. 2575) and Law no. 633 (Art. 1): "The object of the author's right is the work of intellect of creative character that belongs to the sciences, literature, music, figurative art, architecture, theatre, and cinematography, no matter the style or form of expression." There is no requirement that the work be fixed in any

medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation *Medium bomber, a class of war plane * Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium of ...

to attract copyright protection. While Art. 1 requires only that the work be "of the intellect" and "of creative character", Italian courts and scholars have interpreted the provision as conditioning copyright protection on four elements: (1) a particular (not high) degree of creativity; (2)

novelty Novelty (derived from Latin word ''novus'' for "new") is the quality of being new, or following from that, of being striking, original or unusual. Novelty may be the shared experience of a new cultural phenomenon or the subjective perception of an ...

; (3) the work's

objectification In social philosophy, objectification is the act of treating a person, as an object or a thing. It is part of dehumanization, the act of disavowing the humanity of others. Sexual objectification, the act of treating a person as a mere object of sex ...

or externalization; (4) affiliation to art or culture. Art. 2 lists non-exhaustive examples of protected subject matter ("In particular are protected..."): literary, dramatic,

scientific Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

, education, and religious works (whether in written or oral form); musical compositions with or without words; choreographic works and

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

s; computer programs and databases. Official acts of the State are not entitled to copyright protection (Art. 5).

Ownership

The Civil Code states that the rights belong to the author and the author's successors, subject to special circumstances (Art. 2580).

Formalities

Italian law does not require any

copyright formalities Copyright formalities are legal (generally statutory) requirements needed to obtain a copyright in a particular jurisdiction. Common copyright formalities include copyright registration, copyright renewal, copyright notice, and copyright deposi ...

such as

registration Register or registration may refer to: Arts entertainment, and media Music * Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc. * ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller * Registration (organ), the ...

or deposit for copyright to subsist. The Civil Code (Art. 2576) and Law no. 633 (Art. 6) provide that the rights are first acquired upon creation of the work as a particular expression of the intellectual effort.

Economic rights

Exclusive economic rights in Italian copyright law are construed broadly. Art. 12 does not limit the manners in which economic rights may be exploited but provides examples. The author has the exclusive right to

publish Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

the work, and to use the work in any shape or form, original or

derivative In mathematics, the derivative of a function of a real variable measures the sensitivity to change of the function value (output value) with respect to a change in its argument (input value). Derivatives are a fundamental tool of calculus. F ...

(within limits fixed by the law) and in particular certain exclusive rights such as

reproduction Reproduction (or procreation or breeding) is the biological process by which new individual organisms – "offspring" – are produced from their "parent" or parents. Reproduction is a fundamental feature of all known life; each individual or ...

in any manner or form by any process (Art. 13), public performance (Art. 15), and communication by wire, wireless, or Internet (Art. 16). The author also has the exclusive right to authorize

renting Renting, also known as hiring or letting, is an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property owned by another. A gross lease is when the tenant pays a flat rental amount and the landlord pays for al ...

lending In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that de ...

to the public (Art. 18-bis). With respect to computer programs, databases, and

industrial design Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical Product (business), products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in advan ...

s that are created by an employee in the course of her duties, the employer is exclusively entitled to exercise economic rights in the work (Arts. 12-bis, 12-ter). Likewise, where a photograph is taken in the course of duties, economic rights belong to the employer, or to the person who commissioned the

portrait A portrait is a portrait painting, painting, portrait photography, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, Personality type ...

(Art. 88). Certain categories of works are subject to special exploitation rights. For dramatico-musical works,

profit Profit may refer to: Business and law * Profit (accounting), the difference between the purchase price and the costs of bringing to market * Profit (economics), normal profit and economic profit * Profit (real property), a nonpossessory intere ...

is shared among authors in proportion to the deemed value of the contribution. For example, in the case of operas, the author of the music is afforded 3/4 of the total, while the author of the

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, a ...

is afforded 1/4 (Art. 34). In a film work, the authors of the subject matter,

scenario In the performing arts, a scenario (, ; ; ) is a synoptical collage of an event or series of actions and events. In the ''commedia dell'arte'', it was an outline of entrances, exits, and action describing the plot of a play, and was literally pi ...

, and music, along with the

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...

, are considered joint authors. While the exploitation rights over the whole work belong to the producer, certain uses require the consent of the joint authors (Arts. 44–46). Broadcasting services may broadcast works that are performed in public places without the author's consent, but only if the work is not being performed for the first time. The author will in any case receive

remuneration Remuneration is the pay or other financial compensation provided in exchange for an employee's ''services performed'' (not to be confused with giving (away), or donating, or the act of providing to). A number of complementary benefits in additio ...

for these broadcasts (Arts. 52, 56, 57).

Moral rights

In the author-centric Italian copyright law,

moral rights Moral rights are rights of creators of copyrighted works generally recognized in civil law jurisdictions and, to a lesser extent, in some common law jurisdictions. The moral rights include the right of attribution, the right to have a work pu ...

, is eternal, non-transferable, and

inalienable ''InAlienable'' is a 2007 science fiction film with horror and comic elements, written and executive produced by Walter Koenig, and directed by Robert Dyke. It was the first collaboration of Koenig and Dyke since their 1989 production of ''Moont ...

. The author, even after transfer of economic rights, retains the right to claim authorship and to oppose mutilation of the work or any act that would be prejudicial to her honour or

reputation The reputation of a social entity (a person, a social group, an organization, or a place) is an opinion about that entity typically as a result of social evaluation on a set of criteria, such as behavior or performance. Reputation is a ubiquitous ...

(Arts. 20, 22). Upon the death of the author, these rights may be relied upon by her family and descendants (Art. 23).

Duration

The duration of economic rights for most works and for photographs in Italian law is 70 years from the death of the author (Art. 28). Where there are multiple authors, and for cinematographic works, the economic rights expire 70 years after the death of the last surviving author (Arts. 26, 32). For works in which the economic rights are owned by government, academies, public bodies, and non-profit cultural organizations, the duration of the economic rights is 20 years from the first publication (Art. 29).

Neighbouring rights

Italian copyright law also provides for certain exploitation rights over non-works. Phonograph producers have the exclusive right for 50 years from fixation (and without prejudice to the author's rights) to authorize reproduction, distribution, rental, lending, and Internet availability of the sound recording (Art. 72). Broadcasters have the exclusive right for 50 years from first transmission (without prejudice to author's rights) to authorize the fixation (as well as the reproduction and distribution of fixations) and retransmission of the broadcast (Art. 79). Performers have the exclusive right for 50 years from performance to authorize the fixation of the performance (as well as the reproduction, distribution, rental, or lending of the fixation) and the broadcasting of live performances (Art. 80). The performer is also afforded moral rights in that he may oppose any communication or reproduction of his performance that might be prejudicial to his honour or reputation (Art. 81). But the duration of this particular moral right is 50 years from the performance (Art. 85). Italian copyright law mandates that unpublished personal correspondence and memoirs may not be communicated to the public without the consent of the author ''and'' addressee (where appropriate). This right does not expire and applies even when the work itself has fallen into the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

. Likewise, a person's portrait may not be displayed, reproduced, or commercially distributed without the consent of the subject or of his family if he has died (Art. 93).

Assignments and licences

Exploitation rights of the author, as well as neighbouring rights, may be acquired, sold, or transferred, if the transfer is set out in writing (Arts. 107, 110). But publishing contracts may not set out the transfer of indeterminate future rights (Art. 119). In other words, an author cannot contract for the transfer of rights that do not yet exist in law. A further right of artists and authors is known as '' diritto di seguito'' ("right to follow"): the right to be remunerated when the first public sale of her original piece of art or manuscript exceeds the price of the first transfer. The artist is then owed a percentage of the profit made in subsequent public sales of the work (Art. 144). This right cannot be alienated, and persists for 70 years after the artist's or author's death (Arts. 147, 148).

Exceptions and limitations

Italian copyright law does not have an equivalent to

or fair dealing provisions. Limitations and exceptions are set out individually and are interpreted restrictively by the courts, as one would expect in an author's rights regime. The private copying provision was not added until 1993. Certain exceptions do not require remuneration to the author: the reproduction of current news articles or broadcasts, where the original source is indicated (Art. 65); the reproduction or communication of public speeches on matters of political or government interest (Art. 66); the use of fragments or quotations for criticism, discussion, or non-commercial teaching or research (with source indicated) (Art. 70); reproduction and communication for persons with disabilities (Art 71-bis); and the communication of low-resolution images and music over the Internet for educational or scientific purposes (Art. 70). Loans by state

libraries A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

made for cultural promotion or personal study do not require authorization or remuneration (Art. 69). Users may make reprographic reproduction of 15% of a work (excluding sheet music) for private use; remuneration is paid to the authors by the library or copy centre where the reproduction is made (Art. 68). Lawful users may also reproduce music and videos for personal, non-commercial use (Art. 71-sexies). Authors and phonograph producers are entitled to remuneration for these activities via levies on recording devices and blank media (Art. 71-septies). Where a work is protected by a technological protection measure, the rights holders are obliged to adopt proper solutions to allow the exercise of certain exceptions and limitations by lawful users on request, where the exercise would not conflict with the normal exploitation of the work or unduly prejudice the rights holder (Art. 71-quinquies).

Freedom of panorama Freedom of panorama (FOP) is a provision in the copyright laws of various jurisdictions that permits taking photographs and video footage and creating other images (such as paintings) of buildings and sometimes sculptures and other art works ...

for use of artistic works in public spaces is not recognized in the Italian copyright law.

Remedies and penalties

Law no. 633 provides for civil remedies such as

injunction An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in pa ...

, damages (including non-pecuniary), destruction of infringing specimens, and destruction of copying equipment and devices primarily designed to circumvent technological protection measures (Arts. 156–161). A rights holder may also apply for an

interim injunction The term interim order refers to an order issued by a court during the pendency of the litigation. It is generally issued by the Court to ensure Status quo. The rationale for such orders to be issued by the Courts is best explained by the Latin leg ...

for the infringement of economic rights (Art. 163). Criminal penalties for infringers include fines and imprisonment (Art. 171). If the infringement is done with gainful or commercial intent the penalties are increased (Art. 171-ter).

Collective management organizations

Italian copyright law allows for collective management of rights. The role of intermediary, however, is legally reserved for the ''Società italiana degli autori ed editori'' (SIAE) (

Italian Society of Authors and Publishers SIAE ( en, Italian Society of Authors and Publishers, Italian: Società Italiana degli Autori ed Editori) is the Italian copyright collecting agency. Founded in 1882 in the Kingdom of Italy, it is the monopolist intermediary between the autho ...

), although membership is not mandatory (Art. 171). The SIAE is a public body that has a central role in the exercise of economic rights, being responsible for the granting of

licence A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

s and authorizations, and the collection and distribution of

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...

(Art. 171-ter). SIAE has a central role in rights administration, supervising public showings in cinemas, broadcasting, reproduction and distribution of audiovisual and photographic works, copy centres, and the manufacturing, import, and distribution of blank media (Art. 180). The organization also affixes its mark on media containing software, sound recordings, and moving images, that are intended to be placed on the market for sale or rent. This mark consists in a

holographic Holography is a technique that enables a wavefront to be recorded and later re-constructed. Holography is best known as a method of generating real three-dimensional images, but it also has a wide range of other Holography#Applications, applic ...

sticker on which is printed the name of the author or copyright owner, a sequential ID number, and the final destination of the product (sale or rent) (Art. 181-bis).

References

External links

* (Law no 633 of 22 April 1941) * (Civil Code of Italy) {{Authority control

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Law of Italy